Chief Bowen was the first paid police chief for the City of Norwich. Prior to that time the Chief of Police was an appointed position by the Norwich City Council.

Chief Bowen served as a patrolman beginning in 1869 and rose through the ranks until he became chief on April 1, 1889 and retired on July 1, 1904.

He is a native of Connecticut and at the age of seven his parents relocated to Westerly, Rhode Island where he received his education.

At the start of the Civil War he enlisted at Mystic, Connecticut and served for three months. Reenlisting for two years and nine months he was captured and held prisoner at Libby Prison and Belle Island, finally being released at the close of the war and retiring as a sergeant.

He returned home and went to Woodstock, Connecticut taking a course of studies at Eastman's Commercial College at Poughkeepsie, New York.

After a few months employment with the store of S. C. Osgood in Norwich he was appointed to the force as a patrolman in 1869

He was then promoted to sergeant in 1880 and promoted again to first sergeant in 1883. On September 7, 1886 he was elevated to the rank of captain of the night watch and finally appointed chief in 1889.

"That the city is given good police protection is acknowledged. The reputation of [the] Norwich police department is also recognized in other cities".

Chief Bowen is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Arcanum Club and much interested in the G.A.R.